I disagree with Ted about not being dog freindly. Yeah you can't take them in BCC/LCC but the city as a whole is extremely dog friendly. lots of trails along the foot hills and many many official off leash parks.

The dog thing is all relative. There are a million people in this valley using a fairly small mountain range. LCC is only about 8 miles deep, e.g. Hence the term Wasangeles. I'm way thankful that I can somewhat get away from urbanity to recreate without dogs running over me, barking, chasing the wildlife, and generally creating havoc. They get to go elsewhere. If they didn't, I would.

"The dog thing is all relative. There are a million people in this valley using a fairly small mountain range. LCC is only about 8 miles deep, e.g. Hence the term Wasangeles. I'm way thankful that I can somewhat get away from urbanity to recreate without dogs running over me, barking, chasing the wildlife, and generally creating havoc. They get to go elsewhere. If they didn't, I would."

I agree. Only i feel that way about most people climbing i run into in LCC or BCC

I grew up just north of SLC, and I am a little surprised nobody has mentioned how shitty the traffic is yet. Every time I go back home for the holidays, the first thing I notice is the nasty haze all the way from Spanish Fork to Ogden. The next few hundred things I notice, are all of the vehicles on I-15 driving 15 MPH over the speed limit.

All that aside, if I were to live in any bigger city SLC would be at the top of the list. Great jumping off point for the mountains, deserts, and it even has a large body of water with a bunch of salt in it.

I grew up just north of SLC, and I am a little surprised nobody has mentioned how shitty the traffic is yet. Every time I go back home for the holidays, the first thing I notice is the nasty haze all the way from Spanish Fork to Ogden. The next few hundred things I notice, are all of the vehicles on I-15 driving 15 MPH over the speed limit. All that aside, if I were to live in any bigger city SLC would be at the top of the list. Great jumping off point for the mountains, deserts, and it even has a large body of water with a bunch of salt in it.

I think you mean all the people driving 15 mph under the speed limit. In the left lane.

Traffic is awful here (except on Sundays, the roads are almost empty). Air quality sucks in the winter, but you can get away from it by going up into the mountains. But despite those negatives, it's a great place to live and play. There's some great nordic skiing around the Ogden area and in the La Sals by Moab too that I dont think anyone has mentioned.

I don't understand how you guys can complain about traffic. Live in any big-ish city and you'll see that the traffic here is almost non-existent. I couldn't believe how little traffic there was when I moved here.

I disagree with Ted about not being dog freindly. Yeah you can't take them in BCC/LCC but the city as a whole is extremely dog friendly. lots of trails along the foot hills and many many official off leash parks.

The city isn't dog friendly and is doing its best to make most of its off-leash parks go away (Tanners and the little spot at the mouth of Emigration recently went that way). You do know that the shoreline trail, which represents a major part of the accessible foothills, is on-leash only? I've had animal control called on me twice buy some butthurt specialist of the passive aggressive approach (it's a way of life in UT)... That being said, if you're willing to get off the trails there's room for dogs. Let's not pretend this place is dog heaven though.

compared to ever other city and town I lived in with a dog SLC was by far the most dog freindly. in two years of living there not one single time did I have to drive anywhere to take my dog off leash, the amount of designated off leash parks amazed me. as far as them going away, we can only blame ourselves as dog owners... when we're given the parks and push the boundries by going past the parks and incidents happen what do you really expect? in that 2 years I had my dog attacked 3 times by off leash dogs in leash zones, two of them justified their dogs behavior as it was my dog being on leash that triggered them and if I didn't want my dog getting attacked I should be off leash in a leash area... as far as the shoreline trail, yes where it falls under city limits it is subject to city leash zoning, go past that into forest service land and city zoning flys out the window, but know forest service rules for that area to be safe. I live in Ogden now and the difference for dog owners in night and day, next to no off leash parks, and the few there are are no where near walking distance. many people go off leash on the shoreline but the same rules that apply to SLC apply up here, its just people get away with it, but for how long? and due to incidents that have happened up here they are starting to crack down hard.

The thing I like about SLC other than the obvious is the posibilities for weekend adventure. So many things to do in a 3-4 hour drive.

Whitewater kayaking is a a bit lighter than I would like but you can find good water for a weekend trip. Funny how great the Idaho rives are which is just north of Utah but sadly the all head west instead of south.

I don't understand how you guys can complain about traffic. Live in any big-ish city and you'll see that the traffic here is almost non-existent. I couldn't believe how little traffic there was when I moved here.

Exactly. When I moved from Los Angeles to Salt Lake, I couldn't believe how fantastically awesome the traffic was. Even compared to the Detroit Metro area where I live for now, SLC traffic is almost nonexistent.

Anyone complaining about traffic in SLC has obviously never lived in a real city. Traffic problems are close to non-existent here compared to any metro area of even half the size. It used to be a little irksome on friday getaways down south through provo, but now that that construction is done it is easy.

Compared to any other major city around, off leash every other day in Mill Creek makes SLC exponentially more dog friendly than most places. With summit park and other areas around park city, plus the west desert, slc is as dog friendly as a big city gets. Denver is so much worse, though they make it easier to have dogs at outdoor patios at bars.

Traffic in SLC is not nearly as bad as, well, even Birmingham, AL.... Certainly much better than Atlanta, any major city in California or Colorado, any major city on the east coast...etc, etc, etc. If I were to ever move, SLC would be at the top of my list. The Mormons are less of an issue for me than the snake handlers and meth cookers here in the SE....they're so friggin polite.

1. Mountains 2. Good skiable snow for 8 months of the year 3. Great climbing of all kinds 4. A vibrant city with plenty of things to get into 5. Like minded outdoorsy folk 6. Warm summers and Cold winters 7. The desert beckoning to you after a long cold winter 8. Weekend last minute trips to the City of Rocks 9. 6hrs to Jackson, Vegas. 8hrs to RMNP or Tahoe. 10. Mountains

Don't get me wrong, I think that the Wasatch is awesome, and regionally SLC is a fun place to live. The best thing about SLC is being 30 mins from the canyons. On the other hand, there are lots of cities in the West that given a 3 hour drive time are freaking awesome. Missoula, Seattle, San Fran, LA, Denver, Vegas, etc etc etc.

So my understanding (i've never lived in most of these cities) is that although they are close to the mountains, it's still 1hr+ to actually get to the mountains. Where as SLC, everything is less than 30 min away. For example, I can climb 3-5 pitch routes after work without a headlamp in the summer, and I can easily get to skiing on a pow day, when in denver it's a 2 hour traffic jam.

So my understanding (i've never lived in most of these cities) is that although they are close to the mountains, it's still 1hr+ to actually get to the mountains. Where as SLC, everything is less than 30 min away. For example, I can climb 3-5 pitch routes after work without a headlamp in the summer, and I can easily get to skiing on a pow day, when in denver it's a 2 hour traffic jam. Have I heard correctly?

SLC yes, and it's better or worse depending on what you're into depending on where you live.

I lived in Cottonwood Heights for a year, and was right at the mouth of the Cottonwood Canyons, say it took under 20 minutes to get to Brighton/Solitude. Then I lived in Park City for a year, which meant skiing within 5-10 minutes, mountain biking out my front door, though climbing was a 45 minute drive.

Don't get me wrong, I think that the Wasatch is awesome, and regionally SLC is a fun place to live. The best thing about SLC is being 30 mins from the canyons. On the other hand, there are lots of cities in the West that given a 3 hour drive time are freaking awesome. Missoula, Seattle, San Fran, LA, Denver, Vegas, etc etc etc.

you fail to see the potential.

rging wrote:

...posibilities for weekend adventure. So many things to do in a 3-4 hour drive.

SLC - In time to watch the 4th quarter of the Superbowl - 3.2 Beer Drinking (✔)

i've pulled this curcuit off once for super-bowl weekend.

worthy of note: all the above destinations are continuously validated as ligitimate and unique by the plethora of CO, WY, MT, WA, OR, CA, NV, ____ plates that constantly occupy the trailhead parking lots.

OK, so now setup a matrix of all outdoor pursuits vs destinations and you'll come up with lifetime of weekend epics like the one posted above.

...and suprisingly, you dont have to be of Dorais Bro.s or J Campbell lineage to pull that kind of shit off.

now having said thus, tell me what types of Missoula, Seattle, San Fran, LA, Denver, Vegas, etc etc weekend possiblities can compare to that of glorious SLC?

i grew up in seattle and i know what potential exists up in the PNW and greatly respect it, but it does not compare to SLC. SLC is just too centralized to all things western US to move away from.

I lived in Cottonwood Heights for a year, and was right at the mouth of the Cottonwood Canyons, say it took under 20 minutes to get to Brighton/Solitude. Then I lived in Park City for a year, which meant skiing within 5-10 minutes, mountain biking out my front door, though climbing was a 45 minute drive.

Yeah but you can't really compare the skiing in PC to the Cottonwood Canyons.... PC is like a big east coast resort while the cottonwoods are real skiing. No self respecting skier would go to PC over the cottonwoods.

Anyone complaining about traffic in SLC has obviously never lived in a real city.

This.

Spri wrote:

On the other hand, there are lots of cities in the West that given a 3 hour drive time are freaking awesome. Missoula, Seattle, San Fran, LA, Denver, Vegas, etc etc etc.

I don't agree that the Bay area, LA, or Vegas at least can compare to the 3 hour radius of SLC. LA can maybe compete if you extend it to a 4 hour radius but even then, those cities require much more extensive drive time for the radness than SLC does. At least in my experience.

On other hand, those cities have a normal culture and better looking people (err... in my opinion! :)).

Yeah but you can't really compare the skiing in PC to the Cottonwood Canyons.... PC is like a big east coast resort while the cottonwoods are real skiing. No self respecting skier would go to PC over the cottonwoods.

PC is like a big east coast resort? That's gotta be a joke.

And I can get a season at Canyons for almost half the price of Alta...LCC is not twice the skiing PC is, not even close. I'd say 10% better.

Yeah but you can't really compare the skiing in PC to the Cottonwood Canyons.... PC is like a big east coast resort while the cottonwoods are real skiing. No self respecting skier would go to PC over the cottonwoods.

I'll agree with you, for the most part, with regard to Brighton and Solitude, but Alta and Snowbird, while having amazing terrain, are tracked out within an hour or two of opening on a deep day. If there's pow in Park City, and you live there, why drive down to get one or two laps in when you can find pow for days in some parts of the PC resorts?

Or better yet, if you live in PC and you're going to drive, head up to Pow Mow or Snowbasin.